Last night I was so tired and annoyed (who on earth dismantles part of a microscope when nobody remembers how to put it back together?) that I just ate beans on toast and read my new running book.
And why couldn't I face my sewing? Well I was avoiding my picnic blanket skirt until my brain was working better. My sewing machine did not like sewing two layers of fabric and a layer of interfacing. It threw a strop and the tension has gone all strange and it keeps missing stitches. Whatever I did Monday night only made it worse. Frustrating.
Anyhoo. This evening I reattempted it. And now it's frankly just a disaster. The weatherman says summer is on the way and dammit I want to wear my skirt, but I can't if I cant sew anything.
This is what it looks like:
You can see missed stitches (on two very different fabrics) and dreadful tension problems. The dark thread (underneath) shows through whilst the pale blue thread on top just lies on the fabric.
I feel like I've tried everything. I've tried different bobbins and different spools of thread. I've re-threaded. I've turned the tension dial from one extreme to the other with no effect. I've removed the throat plate and dusted underneath.
I'm torn between continuing to fiddle or taking it to be serviced. Suggestions welcomed. I'm off to find chocolate.
Try a new needle? Sometimes this inexplicably works wonders. If you get one of those boxes with different sizes (usually 70, 80, 90) you can try to see if one works better than the others. Small needle for fine fabric, bigger for the thicker stuff, which might help if you've got a couple of layers plus interfacing.
ReplyDeleteCan't think of anything else at the mo - that's my only tried and tested tip! Hope you get it sorted out and sewing again soon.
Thanks, I'll give this a try after work. Fingers crossed!
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